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Hugo Threatens to cut oil supply to the US
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| venomX |
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Chavez threatens to cut oil exports to US
Posted 2 hours 33 minutes ago
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez
Presidential term limits will be scrapped and Hugo Chavez will gain additional powers if tomorrow's referendum succeeds (File photo). (Reuters: Jorge Silva)
A threat by Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez to stop oil exports to the United States has raised the stakes in a referendum he has called for tomorrow in a bid to expand his powers.
Mr Chavez has told tens of thousands of supporters at a rally that he is putting Venezuela's oil field and refineries under military "protection" and will halt the exports "if this [referendum] is used as a pretext to start violence in Venezuela."
He has accused the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) of preparing to spread unrest during the plebiscite in an effort to topple him, and says if the CIA does start violence "there won't be a drop of oil from Venezuela to the United States."
The threat is an escalation of anti-US rhetoric that Mr Chavez has long employed. It highlights both Venezuela's pivotal role as South America's biggest oil producer and the Government's parlous relations with the US.
Venezuela, an OPEC member, produces about two million barrels of oil per day and currently exports around 60 per cent of it to the US.
The US relies on Venezuela for 11 per cent of its oil consumption.
Mr Chavez faces a real risk of losing tomorrow's referendum - an unprecedented situation for the President, who has always triumphed in elections by comfortable margins during his eight-year rule.
The latest polls show a dead-heat in voter intentions, with many slum-dwelling Chavez loyalists baulking at his proposals.
Scrapping term limits
The referendum calls for a scrapping of term limits for the President, opening the way for Mr Chavez to stay on past 2013, when he is due to step down.
The 53-year-old President said yesterday that he wanted to reign "until 2050" if the people backed him.
The referendum also covers proposed changes to allow the government to take over the central bank and expropriate private property in the name of "economic socialism," and gag the media in times of emergency.
Opponents, who have been joined in recent weeks by some former Chavez allies, say the reforms would amount to making Venezuela a Cuba-like communist state, with an elected "dictator".
Mr Chavez, who reveres Cuba's Fidel Castro, dismisses those ranked against him as "traitors" acting to further US "imperialism".
"A vote 'yes' is a vote for Chavez - a vote 'no' is a vote for [US President] George W Bush," he said.
International disputes
The United States is not the only target of Mr Chavez's verbal broadsides. Recently, the Venezuelan President has accumulated international disputes.
Last month, Spain's King Juan Carlos told him to "shut up" at a summit.
Stung by the opposition's adoption of the phrase in its campaign against the referendum, Mr Chavez has demanded an apology. He has said that if he does not get one he may nationalise Spanish banks in Venezuela.
He also fell out spectacularly with his Colombian counterpart, Alvaro Uribe, after the latter dropped him as a mediator in negotiations to release hostages held by leftist FARC guerrillas.
Mr Chavez has said he will have nothing to do with Colombia's Government as long as Mr Uribe remains in power.
The decision may be a costly one because Colombia supplies much of Venezuela's basic food supplies, including eggs, milk and chicken.
Mr Chavez has not spared the foreign media either. He has accused CNN of inciting his assassination by putting the caption "Who killed him?" under his picture this week.
He dismissed the network's explanation that it was an on-air mix-up with another news item.
- /AFP
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Now this is getting a bit out of hand. I had high hopes for Chavez, but they have long been erased. He is getting slightly out of control. Not because of threatening the US, that is a decision Venezuela can make as a sovereign country, but more because of the signal he is sending with the preparations to curtail the supply. 'Special deployments' of troops to protect 'oil interests' and putting the blame for violence before it happens, which is likely to erupt because Venezuelans are pissed, on the US. Now, I won't deny that US is probably going to take advantage of this crux and do some dirty work, which I don't agree with, but this move basically enables him to use this as an excuse for god knows what if any bit of violence brakes out. Fidel did a good job of brainwashing this man. |
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| eROs.au |
| quote: | | Mr Chavez dismisses those ranked against him as "traitors" acting to further US "imperialism". |
Looks familiar huh? Just changed in subtle ways... |
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| Zharen |
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"A vote 'yes' is a vote for Chavez - a vote 'no' is a vote for [US President] George W Bush," he said. |
LOL, how's that for propaganda? But yeah, sounds like the man is getting out of control and is about to do some dangerous things. If the US wants to invoke regime change on Mr. Chavez, I'm not going to complain. |
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| venomX |
| quote: | Originally posted by Zharen
LOL, how's that for propaganda? But yeah, sounds like the man is getting out of control and is about to do some dangerous things. If the US wants to invoke regime change on Mr. Chavez, I'm not going to complain. |
Regime change is the stupidest thing that America has come up with. It has yet to work successfully and is the MAIN CAUSE for resentment towards the US in Latin America. If you wish your country to alienate Latin America even more, a move against Chavez would do the trick. It's not like there is already a strong anti US sentiment throughout the Americas. |
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| Alex |
| quote: | Originally posted by venomX
Regime change is the stupidest thing that America has come up with. It has yet to work successfully and is the MAIN CAUSE for resentment towards the US in Latin America. If you wish your country to alienate Latin America even more, a move against Chavez would do the trick. It's not like there is already a strong anti US sentiment throughout the Americas. |
So strong that it prevents thousands (millions?) of latin Americans "moving" to the US every year :p |
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| Q5echo |
this is a charade.
Chavez wants people to think he's a victim (from the looks of it seems to be working:rolleyes: ).
he's using his oil as a nationalist tool, which is fine, just don't be dense enough not to see through it. |
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| venomX |
| quote: | Originally posted by Alex
So strong that it prevents thousands (millions?) of latin Americans "moving" to the US every year :p |
Does it matter? Most people that leave LA for the US are from lower income levels. Sadly, those are the people with less influence on a countries policy, especially in many places of LA. Therefore, the fact that they are leaving their countries (considering they are doing it for the potential of more money not for like of the states) has nothing to do with the official policies LA countries set vis a vis the US. My original point still stands. Anti-imperialism and Anti-US campaigns are getting more and more popular throughout LA. This will obviously affect the flow of resources from LA to the US. Depending on how effectively LA governments are in negotiating the relationships that the lose with the US with other countries, the US stands to lose more than LA. |
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| venomX |
| quote: | Originally posted by Q5echo
this is a charade.
Chavez wants people to think he's a victim (from the looks of it seems to be working:rolleyes: ).
he's using his oil as a nationalist tool, which is fine, just don't be dense enough not to see through it. |
Who are you addressing in your post Q? Seems a bit out of context. |
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| Q5echo |
| quote: | Originally posted by venomX
Who are you addressing in your post Q? Seems a bit out of context. |
no one here, but the reflexive nature of some people to clamor onto anything a foreign leader says in defense of alleged Neocon conspiracies tends to be rampant. maybe i'm being reflexive. |
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| MisterOpus1 |
| quote: | Originally posted by Q5echo
no one here, but the reflexive nature of some people to clamor onto anything a foreign leader says in defense of alleged Neocon conspiracies tends to be rampant. maybe i'm being reflexive. |
Maybe a little. He's being a head tyrant, plain and simple. |
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| Krypton |
| quote: | Originally posted by venomX
Regime change is the stupidest thing that America has come up with. It has yet to work successfully and is the MAIN CAUSE for resentment towards the US in Latin America. If you wish your country to alienate Latin America even more, a move against Chavez would do the trick. It's not like there is already a strong anti US sentiment throughout the Americas. |
Totally agreed. Let Chavez bring himself and his supporters to ruin. Let's not make an excuse for Latin American radicalized marxist insurgents. |
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| George Smiley |
| Thank God for Chavez...at least there is somebody in the world willing to stand up for democracy and take no from American imperialism |
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